Values Added Financial LLC Sells 160 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Values Added Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,179 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Values Added Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mendel Money Management boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.8% in the second quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,133 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,129,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,907,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares during the last quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 20,760 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth $1,196,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MA. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $479.62.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $481.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $464.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.46. The stock has a market cap of $449.25 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $355.82 and a one year high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $11.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,003,217.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.